Fuseki
by katachresis
Summary: Azula only wants what's rightfully hers. Azula x Katara
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

Pairing: Azula/Katara, some Zuko/Aang  
Rating: this chapter G, further chapters up to M  
Warnings: yuri, some yaoi, WIP  
Disclaimer: Do not own AtLA, would cry if sued.  
A/N: I do believe this is my first full-length yuri fic. It's also my pet pairing at the moment. 3

Props go to my betas Catie for fangirling them with me, and Colin for being (eventually) convinced I wasn't entirely crazy. Also thanks to Colin for helping me decide on a title, without which this never would have been posted.

----

In the weeks and months following her father's defeat, Azula watched the group of children who had somehow brought the fire nation to its knees closely, warily. Although the sorry excuse for an Avatar and his friends _seemed _friendly enough, they could always be dangerous. And if they weren't… well, _she _was.

It was shocking that they even allowed her to live, let alone stay in the palace. Zuzu wasn't the smartest, but even he should have figured out that her apologies and promises to not cause any trouble were nothing but lip-service until she could find a way to claim her rightful place as head of the nation.

Her lip curled in disgust a bit, watching him attempt to spar with the Avatar, smirking every time he let a blow get through. Weak and pathetic. Hiding behind a mere child when he should have let someone more capable take over, for no one would have ever allowed _Zuko_ the throne if the boy hadn't insisted. Their once great nation would never recover a fraction of its glory. That is, unless someone stepped in.

It would be difficult. She would have to be subtle. Insinuate herself bit-by-bit and win their trust. Eventually, she was sure, she'd have them eating out of her hand. It was a plan that had never failed before, and she was sure that with time and patience she could discredit her brother.

So Azula studied them, looking for the weakest link.

At first, she thought it would be the boy. The one who couldn't bend and who was so easily led around by his hormones that every girl in the world caught his fancy. But he had proven strangely stubborn, insisting that he already _had _plenty of dangerous ladies in his life and he didn't need any more, thank you, and could she _please _not talk to him anymore. Of course, in retrospect, he was much too far below her.

Then, she though perhaps the blind one. Azula couldn't stand earthbenders – they were dirty, disgusting, uncivilized; but she thought that maybe she could befriend _her, _play upon her insecurities. That… hadn't gone well either. The girl was even crasser than Azula had been lead to believe. She hadn't the faintest idea how to treat a princess.

The waterbender girl, though. Azula considered her, smiling ever so faintly. True, the girl was strong enough, for a waterbender (who were weak cowards who could never truly a match a fire bender, as everyone knew). She also seemed capable, confident in nearly everything. But Azula had noticed the hidden awkwardness she had whenever they had a formal occasion. How her clothes were never _quite _right unless someone helped her, and even then she gave away her peasant upbringing within moments. The frequent half-blushes and the slightly hurried speech as she tried to backpedal over a diplomatic misstep.

Now _she _could use a mentor. And Azula was nothing if not helpful.


	2. Chapter 2 Joban

A/N: Eternal props to Catie and Colin, without whom I'd be lost.

This is the fastest I think I've ever written any fic, ever. And in honor of tomorrow being my five-year anniversary here, I thought I'd better not be stingy. Look for the third chapter sometime tonight or tomorrow (it is in beta now)!

-----

It took long enough to wear on Azula's patience. Days before the girl wasn't glaring at her every time she walked into the room, weeks before the girl would talk to her even briefly. Strangely, though, the biggest breakthrough came when she was _most _annoyed with the girl's stubbornness, enough that she couldn't keep up the sweet, innocent voice or the charming smile. That was when the waterbender really _looked _at her, and she realized in some shock that it was time to move to the next step.

Azula concentrated on small things, showing brief hints of attentiveness. Bring the girl tea before a servant could get to it or answer questions that she hadn't asked. Give her advice, but not _too _willingly. It wouldn't do to seem to be a sycophant, especially not later in her plans.

The girl wasn't stupid, either. There was almost more wariness in her eyes the first time Azula brought her tea than the first handful of days where they weren't (obviously) enemies anymore.

"It's not poisoned." The words came out more sharply than she wanted and she hurriedly smiled, hoping that the other girl would take it as a joke.

The girl frowned more. "Why are you bringing me tea?'

"Uncle asked me to." A lie of course, but a plausible one, and the girl finally nodded a little, a half-smile on her lips as if she wasn't sure it was allowed to smile at the enemy.

"I see. Thank him for me?"

Azula couldn't help the frown. Ungrateful little thing. "Of course." She turned to go, inwardly fuming.

"And thank you, too." The words were hurried, not quite sounding like an afterthought so much as an admission of guilt. It would do for now.

Azula looked back at her, smiling just a bit and nodding regally before leaving. There wasn't any need to prolong the conversation.

----

Katara was lonely. Palace life was complicated and boring and she thought it would be fine, with Toph and Sokka and Aang here to lean on, but somehow things just never seemed to really work. Toph had been sullen and withdrawn, and now was just days from leaving the palace, too sick of walls and rules to stay for long. Katara couldn't blame her, though. Even for her, it was stifling, and for Toph it must have been much worse.

Sokka.. well, her brother was… her brother, and she had all but given up trying to get any real advice out of him long ago. The victory had just made it worse… he was either droning on about his grand plans for the future of the world, or he was sneaking out on a date with Ty Lee or Suki… and Katara was amazed neither of them had quite put two and two together yet.

As for Aang, well, he was wonderful of course. He would always make time to talk to her, but it wasn't ever the same lately. She could see him becoming increasingly involved with Zuko and the peace negotiations, and it felt like she was imposing sometimes. The last thing she wanted to do was be a burden when Aang already had quite enough to deal with for someone so young.

Sometimes she contemplated going home, but it wasn't exactly close enough for a spur-of-the-moment visit, and she also had a part to play here in smoothing over the ruffled feathers of the Fire Nation's court. Most people, after all, had respected Ozai's goals and were not won over yet by the thirteen-year-old avatar.

She had taken to rising early again to train, since even after the war it wouldn't do to let herself get lazy. She had fought far too hard to earn the right to be a waterbender – to be anything less than the best she could be would be disrespecting herself and her teacher. The practices helped calm her mind as she moved through slow and deliberate forms that forced her to center herself.

She also liked the stillness of the palace at sunrise, when she was hardly ever disturbed and then only by a palace servant hurrying to begin breakfast. One slept in, apparently, here. Early risers were practically unheard of.

So when she turned from one form into the next, she was startled to see Azula watching her intently, standing only a few feet away.

Their eyes locked for a few heartbeats, and then the princess turned, walking towards the kitchen smoothly.

Katara shivered a bit, frowning deeply, relaxing out of the stance she was holding. Something was strange. Lately Azula had been.. well.. a little creepy. Not that Katara wanted to think badly of her, but given experience it wouldn't be smart to underestimate the girl who had been one of their most formidable enemies.

----

Azula was a natural predator, no matter what anyone had to say about her failure to capture the Avatar or her traitorous brother. She was patient and methodical, and she loved the feel of circling around her prey, drawing closer to it while it was unaware.

She had the girl off-balance. She had shown up several times to watch her practice her silly skills, until her presence no longer seemed to startle the waterbender. Instead of suspicion, the girl stared at her with a sort of wary confusion.

Thankfully, the next court dance was within days. She didn't want the girl to get suspicious and tight-lipped again, nor did she want her to actually _ask _any of the questions that she knew must be on the girl's mind. It was always best to strike quickly.

She stood at the door to the girl's chambers and knocked on it lightly. There was more than an hour before the dance… plenty of time for her to get ready. She knew though from quizzing the maids that Katara fussed half the day.

She had to hold the slow, dangerous smile in when the girl answered, keeping her face neutral instead. Perfect.

The waterbender's hair was in absolute disarray and she looked terribly frazzled, rushed.

"As I suspected." She said with just the slightest hint of disdain, though she was sure the girl would catch it.

"Excuse me?" The girl looked somewhere between surprised and annoyed, as if she couldn't make up her mind, wasn't sure which emotion she should settle on.

"You're going to disgrace us all if you keep this up." Azula looked pointedly at her.

Now she was definitely annoyed, folding her arms. "Do you want something?"

Azula smiled just a bit. "Zuko asked me to help you. He said you were embarrassing yourself."

It was a blatant lie, one that even the girl would probably have trouble believing. Zuko didn't care for such things. He didn't care if the entire nation found him and his friends to be a laughingstock. And for a moment Azula thought that the waterbender would think of that and she might just close the door in her face. Instead, she stepped aside to let Azula in.

Success. She _knew _that the girl's self-consciousness would override the sliver of common sense she had. Azula held back a smirk as she bowed just a little (and it stung like knives to be so polite to a commoner and she knew it was something for which she'd get revenge later), accepting the invitation and stepping in. Turned to give her a critical once-over as the she closed the door, then took her elbow, leading her over to the dressing table.

"Sit down."

A rebellious glare met her eyes in the mirror, but the girl sat after a moment. Clearly she realized how much help she really needed. Azula reached for a wide ivory comb, reaching up to her hair with her free hand.

"Tell me if I hurt you," she said sweetly, and watched the girl's eyes narrow angrily, but how she pressed her lips together to prevent an outburst as Azula raised the comb to pull it gently through her hair.

Azula was a bit surprised at how _much _hair the waterbender apparently had, used to seeing it tightly braided. It was soft and fine, too, sliding through the teeth of the comb easily. Easy enough to manage, but the sheer volume would make it difficult to style by one's self.

Eventually she put the comb down, amused to see the girl's half-closed eyes open again, suddenly. She didn't stop, though, simply gathering the hair up gently and starting to put it up in an elegant knot, pulling an ivory comb out of her own hair to secure it.

"Do you have any cosmetics?" She knew very well she did, and that she had too heavy a hand with them.

The girl frowned a bit, but nodded, sliding open a drawer. "Here."

Azula smiled. "Turn around then."

----

Katara kept her eyes closed carefully while Azula lightly brushed powder over her eyelids, catching her breath a bit without realizing it. It was difficult to stay so still, doubly so when she couldn't be sure that in the next minute the girl who was doing her makeup wouldn't try to snap her neck. Especially with one hand lightly pressed to her cheek.

They were too close for comfort. Close enough that Azula's breath stirred the wisps of hair that worked their way loose.

Azula moved to the other eye, dragging the brush over it carefully. Katara couldn't figure out what the _hell _took so long putting on eyeshadow, either. She had no problem being girly, but the sheer time Azula was putting into it was ridiculous.

"Open your eyes."

She did, looking up into Azula's critical gaze, frowning.

"Stop that." Fingers slid down under her chin, tilting her face up a bit and examining her a bit more. "Close them again."

It was getting more irritating by the minute, dealing with her. She was so bossy and rude and… Katara sighed, exerting enormous self-control to close her eyes again, letting Azula fix whatever problem she had found.

"Part your lips a bit." Katara opened her eyes, looking at Azula as she did so, trying not to frown. Azula glared at her scathingly. "I didn't tell you to open your eyes."

Breathe out. Count to ten. She closed her eyes as the princess smoothed a different brush over them, painstakingly slowly.

Eventually the girl moved on, smoothing a brush over her cheeks and her forehead and jaw, snapping at her every time she tried to open her eyes.

Finally, Azula stopped, stepped back. It was all Katara could do not to sigh in some relief.

"All right. Turn around and look."

She stared at herself in the mirror, wide-eyed. She could hardly tell that she was wearing any makeup, but somehow she looked… older. More mature.

It was nothing like the spa or that disastrous party they had snuck into. She really looked like a lady, not a child.

When she looked up, Azula was smiling in an annoyingly smug, self-satisfied way. "I suppose you're passable now. Time to move onto your clothes."

Katara frowned, remembering to be irritated and looking down at the robe she was wearing. "What's wrong with my clothes?"

"They're too big for you. They're lent from Lady Ursa's old things and you're not as tall as she was."

"They were your mother's?"

Azula shrugged, nonchalantly. "I have some of my own that might fit you better."

"All right." She nodded a little, feeling just a bit overwhelmed. "I guess we can try them.."


	3. Chapter 3 Baai no te

A/N: Warning for a bit of lime-y content not much else to say! Happy anniversary to me.

Expect the next update to be a bit slower in coming. I'll try to get it up as soon as I can though.

-----

Katara had to admit that Azula knew what she was doing. Azula's clothes fit her perfectly, and she was getting more than a few appreciative stares. Of course, that could have been Azula, too, as the other girl hadn't left her side all night.

She sipped the glass of wine that Azula had pressed into her hand. Truth be told she didn't remember if this was the second or third glass. She still felt rather awkward, but the other girl was keeping herself in the center of attention, affording Katara an opportunity to watch her.

Even though she had been written out of the line of succession, she was still every inch the princess, and it seemed that she could charm anyone. It felt strange, fake to watch the girl interact… and yet no one talked to her without smiling. She wondered if she'd be able to do that eventually – not be so artificial, but maybe she could look so at ease.

Azula laughed at a terrible joke made by the latest highly-ranked officer to ooze up to them. She had a light laugh, less vicious than Katara remembered it. It caught her off-guard and she looked at the girl in a bit of surprise. Azula smoothly excused them, dropping a hand to Katara's waist and applying a little pressure, a clear sign to walk away now before he could launch onto another story about the war.

"Stupid old worm-toady," Azula muttered under her breath as soon as they were away, causing Katara to suppress a giggle in her glass.

"What, you weren't enjoying his _fascinating _recount of his hundred-day siege of one of Ba-sing-se's more minor supply towns?" She smirked a bit.

Azula snorted a bit. "My father promoted more than his share of incompetent fools, and that man was one of the worst."

"Apparently." She finished the rest of her wine, (strange how a glass in her hands could feel so much more awkward once it was empty) immediately looking for a servant who could take it from her.

Azula was faster, taking it from her loose fingers and setting it down on a nearby table. "Let's get out of here before another one of the old relics decides to start kissing up to me."

Katara blinked a bit but nodded, letting Azula guide her over to the door and out to the porches. She felt pleasantly dizzy, wondering if she'd had too much to drink, but the princess had assured her that the wine wasn't strong and it had tasted really good. She was really a bit nicer than she seemed, wasn't she?

Lost in her own thoughts, she stumbled a little, and Azula's hand slid from a light touch on her lower back to her hip, steadying her.

"Maybe we should get you back to your room." She sounded amused, and Katara frowned a bit, sort of annoyed. It wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself.

"I'm fine."

"I know. But it's getting late, and it's on the way to my room."

Katara couldn't argue with that logic, and she was feeling rather tired, still off-balance. The arm around her waist was reassuring, warm. "Fine, fine."

-----

Aang had watched Katara most of the night, amazed at how beautiful she had grown. A small part of him still had that hopeless crush on her and probably always would, though he knew better than to admit that now. He had accepted a long time ago that he was still a kid to her, no matter what battles they fought.

He watched Katara as Azula stood close to her, keeping fingers lightly pressed to her elbow or waist. It was strange. After all they had never been friends, and they all knew Azula was insane and devious and not exactly the person you'd want to be stuck to your side like a barnacle-limpet. He wondered why Katara was putting up with Azula's suspicious behavior.

Maybe it was some sort of game. After all, girls were pretty weird sometimes.

"She's up to something."

He glanced up at Zuko's quiet words, blinking a little. "Huh?"

The firebender looked down at him, shrugging. "Azula. She's _always _up to something."

"Katara can handle herself." Aang frowned some, watching them again.

Zuko sighed next to him, and Aang worried even more. "Maybe I should talk to her about it…?"

Zuko shook his head. "Not now. It's not the place. Besides, it's getting late. See? They're leaving."

And they were, Azula's hand still on the small of Katara's back, and it just seemed _strange _to watch his friend walk slightly-unsteadily out with her.

He jumped just a bit when he felt Zuko's hand on his own waist, a bit of tenderness that they had both agreed they wouldn't show in public, at least not yet, but the party was winding down and no one was really paying attention, far too interested in their drinks or dates to care about the Avatar and the Fire Lord who were both far too sober and scary for ribald jokes or war stories.

"We should go too."

Aang nodded, smiling a little. Somehow, Zuko's touch reassured him. And he was getting rather tired.

No one noticed them leaving together, just as no one noticed them arriving at the same time. And well, if anyone did, they were wise enough not to say anything.

-----

Azula smirked to herself, as she helped the waterbender into her room, helping her sit back down at the dressing table. The girl had obviously never drank this much. It made her much more pliable.

"I can manage, you know." The girl protested, yet again, and Azula patted her shoulder lightly, hoping she managed to keep it from being _too _condescending.

"I'll just take care of your hair for you. I don't want it tangling." She pulled the comb out, laying it on the dressing table lightly and picking up the comb again.

"Mmn…" She looked like she was going to say something until Azula tugged the comb through her hair. The girl's eyes slid shut, and she leaned back into it, clearly forgetting whatever it was that she was about to complain about.

Azula combed her hair carefully, watching her in the mirror. She really was rather beautiful, though unrefined. It was like playing with a doll. Carefully, she set down the comb, picking up a handkerchief to kneel next to her, wiping the makeup off.

The girl's eyes flickered back open and they stared at each other for a moment. Azula raised an eyebrow, realizing that the other girl was blushing slowly.

Well. Wasn't _that _interesting.

She dragged the cloth over the girl's lips, watched her eyes get a little bit darker, a touch wider. Smiled slowly and leaned in, following the path with a brush of her own lips.

The girl's mouth trembled under hers, lips parting a bit in a surprised gasp, and she pressed the kiss a little more, letting the tip of her tongue brush her lower lip gently. Slid a hand back to the small of her back, steadying the girl who swayed just a bit against her.

Azula hadn't, until that moment, been considering seducing the poor girl. She had planned to befriend her, to gain her trust. But this way would be faster, so much more interesting... and she would get _something _out of it besides her final goal.

Smirking to herself, she reflected that the waterbender would make a fine concubine, once she was on the throne.

She slid a hand up the girl's arm, gently running fingernails (no longer filed into daggers, but perfectly rounded, all in keeping with her veneer of harmlessness) up the back of her neck and into her hair, tugging it a little to get the girl to tilt her head.

The girl was responding, with an adorable bit of awkwardness, a hesitant arm slid around her. Innocent. She would be so easy to mold… Azula laughed soundlessly, deepening the kiss, advancing the victory which tasted like fine wine.

Only when the girl was breathless did she break it with a slow smile, reaching up to brush some of her hair back from her face, a slow, deliberate caress before dropping a hand down, tugging at the ties of the heavy silk brocade.

The waterbender's eyes focused a little more, and the blush crept along her cheeks, her chest rising and falling in quick, shallow breaths. "What are you..?"

"You don't want to sleep in this." Azula smiled reassuringly, as if the kiss hadn't happened, and undressing the girl was perfectly natural. Reached up to slide the silk from her shoulders, smiling at how the girl suddenly wrapped her arms up a bit, keeping it from falling down past her breasts, even though she still wore light silk undergarments.

"You don't have anything to be embarrassed over." Softly as she pushed the sleeves down the girl's arms, turning the act into a caress as she twined her fingers around thin wrists, pulling them out of the sleeves entirely. She lifted one to her face, pressing lips to the palm of her hand, smiling again when she saw the girl's face soften again with confusion, gently pulling apart the robe with her free hand.

"Come along." She stood smoothly, taking both the girl's hands and pulling her to her feet, away from the clothes, dazed and shivering in a short silk shift. Drew her over to the bed.

It would have been so easy to push the conquest further, to sink down onto the bed with her, and the idea was attractive when the girl was there with silk riding up around her thighs, hair spilling down around her hips, eyes wide and lips parted, adorably flushed. It took self-control to turn away.

But things too easily gained were easily lost. She wanted the other girl to make the decision, to draw her down deliberately. So instead she pulled the cool sheets up and over the waterbender, easing her down into the pillows with a gentle brush of lips on her forehead before standing up and slipping out of the room.

And when she was safe in her own chambers, she dreamily pulled off her own robes and let them fall to the floor, stripping off her jewelry and her undergarments, letting her hair down. Thinking of the girl and how utterly perfect she was turning out to be as she slid into her own bed, the silk on her naked skin making her shiver. It echoed the movements of her hands as she slid them along her own body, running delicious plans through her head.


	4. Chapter 4 Moyo

A/N: Still managing to maintain a decent writing pace, a fact which I'm proud of. This chapter might slow down a little, but don't worry, the next one will be more fun.

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed! It makes my day, honestly. Enjoy!

-----

The inconvenient part of waking up just before dawn every day was that your body tended to stick to that pattern no matter what. It didn't matter – rain, shine, or even when you weren't feeling your best and could use a few more hours to sleep off too much wine, eyes would open just as the sky transitioned from midnight to steel.

Katara nursed a cup of tea out in one of the least-traveled gardens, groggy. Practice this morning wasn't one of her best efforts, lasting all of one form before she realized her heart wasn't in it, a thought that alone would have made her irritable.

And, well… there was the simple fact that the thought of Azula showing up to yet another practice made her pulse race with something she would never admit was very close to panic.

She hadn't drunk enough to forget what happened last night. At least she didn't think she had, but kissing Azula didn't seem like something that would _really _happen. So maybe it was a dream. Had to be a dream, except that it was so real and so warm and unsettlingly sensual and if she was _dreaming _about the psychotic ex-princess in that way then maybe she needed to go check herself into the Fire Nation Mental Health ward out in the city.

She didn't believe that she was crazy… well, not delusional, anyway, so it must have actually happened. She frowned deeply, trying to recall details. Who had kissed whom? She was nearly certain that Azula had leaned forward first, but had she done something before that? And after… well.

Remembering made her blush, thinking of the way strong, light hands had slid down her skin, tugged at her clothes and… okay. Stop. Right. There.

This just couldn't be happening.

It wasn't the fact that Azula was a girl. It wasn't unheard of in the tribes, especially during times of war. The poles weren't exactly temperate, and sharing body heat was a natural thing to do. No one really spoke about it… but during those months where the sun never came out, well, people had to do _something_, right?

Gran-gran had made sure Katara got a thorough education, preparing her to eventually take over caring for their tribe. Because of that, these things weren't exactly a mystery, even if she hadn't ever… participated in any of them herself.

But although Azula was pretty and powerful and occasionally even interesting, she wasn't exactly the type a strong, determined, independent waterbender should ever consider. Just the opposite, in fact – she was a scheming, arrogant, spoiled, stuck-up brat who really needed to be taught a lesson.

So. It was only the alcohol. It couldn't – no – _wouldn't_ happen again. That was that.

With things decided, she sipped her tea, smiling a bit. Iroh was right… the jasmine was soothing her jangled nerves, even though she'd hardly done more than breathe the steam.

"You finished very early today." The amused, (almost malicious?) voice very nearly made Katara jump, and it was only willpower and a lack of sleep that kept her from doing so.

Although the light touch on her shoulder wasn't doing wonders for her resolve to not blush.

"I thought I'd take a break." Damnit. Was Azula _looking _for her? It was hard to believe the other girl had simply wandered out here by chance.

Azula slid around her, keeping a couple fingers on her shoulder as she went to sit down next to Katara on the relatively small bench. "I see. And I was so looking forward to watching you."

Katara buried a grimace in her tea. The princess was far too awake for how she was feeling right now. And too close for comfort. It was making her feel.. odd. She knew she was starting to flush and her breathing felt just a touch constricted. And that just served to make her angry and more flustered and she could sense that this could be bad.

"Maybe tomorrow."

"I'll be there at sunrise." The smile was just a little predatory. Katara found herself catching her breath, and then the other girl was leaning in and she couldn't breathe if she _tried_ as fingers cupped her cheek, a thumb smoothing over her skin lightly.

"You should eat something. You'd feel better."

Katara stared into her eyes, which seemed to be concerned now, wondering how she could change expression so quickly. She was caught up enough that it took her a second to realize that this was her out.

"Oh. Yes." She laughed, hating that it sounded nervous as she drew away. "I'll go do that now."

Azula's hand dropped to her arm, gentle pressure that kept her from standing. She blinked a bit, looking at the other girl, who was leaning in, brushing a gentle kiss over the corner of her mouth.

-----

The kiss was innocent as a kiss could be. The waterbender's lips parted slightly, either in protest or response. Azula could feel the girl's heart racing, pounding against the fingertips she kept pressed to the crook of her elbow.

She held it there, curious, wondering if the girl would take the initiative so soon, if she would lean into the kiss and turn it into something less chaste. And for a split second, she _did_, but then she was pulling back, clearly trembling.

Azula kept her face straight, but she couldn't help gloating internally as she watched the waterbender go.

She looked good blushing.

Leaning back a little, she wondered if tonight would be too soon to visit her, or if she'd be better off leaving the girl to her own devices for a few days.

-----

Zuko traced his fingers up and down Aang's back slowly while the younger boy slept, following the vivid blue line of his tattoos. He smiled a little, a rare expression even where Aang was concerned except in unguarded moments like these.

He should wake the boy, send him back to his rooms. They didn't want people talking, at least not yet. Things were too unstable still. It would be an understatement to say that the Fire Nation wasn't completely convinced that Zuko deserved to be on the throne and that the war should be abandoned.

Making public their relationship would only cement the opinion that the only reason he was on the throne was that the Avatar favored him, that he wasn't fit to rule. It would cause problems down the line.

But it was hard to convince himself to do everything he _should _sometimes, especially lately. He had spent so long doing what he thought his father wanted, what he thought his uncle wanted, what he thought his people wanted… he rarely allowed himself what he wanted.

He leaned down and kissed Aang's temple lightly, then moved to his cheekbone, the corner of his mouth. Lingered there, until he felt the other boy sigh, starting to move, and then drew back slowly, watching his lover (odd to even think those words) open his eyes slowly and break out into an easy, sleepy smile.

"Good morning."

He realized he was still smiling at Aang and cleared his throat , forcing himself to drop it. "You should be back in your room already."

Aang leaned up, lips brushing along his jaw slowly, and Zuko felt his resolve wavering. He frowned more. "Aang."

"It's late enough that it doesn't matter." Sometimes the Avatar was almost annoyingly convincing. "It'll look worse if I leave _now _than if I leave in a couple of hours."

Zuko frowned deeply. "You should have left three hours ago."

Aang smiled up at him, then leaned in to nuzzle his cheek. "If you'd really wanted me to, you would've woken me up earlier."

Infuriating how he could do that. A kid (not really a kid, after all, as he'd proved to Zuko on more than one occasion) shouldn't be able to shut down his objections so effortlessly. He'd say something more but all of a sudden Aang's mouth was on his, gentle and insistent and it felt so wonderful to be touched like that, like he was the only person that mattered in that moment.

Aang was always like that. The relationship itself had been a surprise, something that snuck up and smacked Zuko silly. He supposed he had been oblivious – self-absorbed – in the summer before and the wake of his father's death, but thinking back on their friendship he should have anticipated the night when Aang leaned over the table and kissed him, making him realize that there were things besides duty and honor that mattered.

He slid his arms around Aang's waist, pulling him up to him, deepening the kiss. It was always a surprise how much he needed this, how _right _it felt, even when nothing else felt right in his world.

Aang laughed and broke the kiss, lying back and pulling him down. "See? This is better, isn't it?"

Zuko frowned deeply but nodded, seriously. It _was_ better than their normal, hurried visits. Almost enough to make him not care that there would be repercussions, to want to have this every day. He sighed, pulling Aang into his arms.

"Just a little longer then."

----

Katara paced in Aang's room, still upset and wondering where the _hell _her friend was. He was _always _back from Zuko's by now and she needed to talk to him, desperately. He was the only one who would remotely understand, and she knew that she could count on him to be a voice of reason.

Finally, she sat down at the small desk with a groan, burying her face in her arms. She still felt awful, and half of her really just wanted to go back to bed and pull the covers up over her head and pretend that life was perfectly normal.

The door creaked and her head whipped up. Aang paused, a little awkwardly, holding a tray with some tea and fruit pastries, blinking at her comically. She didn't give him time to do much else, getting up immediately and going to hug him tightly, immensely relieved to see him.

He juggled the tray in his hand, wavering, and she realized he was about to drop it, so she pulled away, grabbing the teapot before it spilled.

"What's wrong?"

Perceptive as always, and she smiled at him a little. "Do you have anything you're supposed to be doing this morning?

He shook his head, going to sit at the small eating table. "Not until the afternoon. Have you eaten?"

She went and sat across from him, sighing. "Not yet. Thank you."

----

Aang frowned a bit as they ate, listening to Katara, getting a little more worried than he had been as she told him what Azula had been doing.

It was unsettling, considering the firebender had just months ago been one of their most dangerous, dedicated enemies… a sentiment that wasn't likely to change no matter how much leniency Zuko was showing his sister.

No, if Azula was trying to seduce Katara, she had to be up to something.

"I just don't know what to _do_." She finished, drooping a little, and Aang shook his head a little, not really sure himself.

"You said you liked the kiss, right?"

She blushed deeply. "That's _beside_ the point. It's _Azula_."

"Maybe it's not though. What I mean is maybe you just.. liked the kissing? Maybe you just need to date someone?"

Katara frowned, sipping tea, clearly considering that. "But who?"

Aang shrugged. "I dunno. Are there any other girls you like? Or boys for that matter?"

She grinned. "Not since you and Zuko got serious." It was a gentle tease, but it still made him blush furiously, laughing a bit and finding the remains of his food _very _interesting.

"Well, in that case, maybe it's not such a bad idea?" He couldn't believe he was saying that.

Neither could Katara, apparently, because when he looked up at her she was staring at him as if he'd sprouted another arrow. But he knew Katara, and he trusted her judgment.

"What I mean is, you already know better than to trust her, so maybe you shouldn't worry so much?"

"I… guess so." She was frowning deeply and he felt sort of bad, hating that he was clearly not helping that much.

She sipped her tea, finishing it and setting the cup down gently. "I think maybe I should go think some. Do you want me to take the tray back?"

He grinned, shaking his head. "That's okay. And if you want to talk more later—"

Katara grinned. "I'll come find you. Thank you."


	5. Chapter 5 Furikawari

Warnings: This chapter has non-explicit sex of the yuri kind. It has been slightly edited from the original version to keep it from being an MA rating.

A/N: Thank you again to Catie and Colin and to everyone who's read and reviewed.

Anyway, many people have asked about the chapter names. They, as well as the title, are named after Japanese Go terms (for lack of any useable pai-sho terms). I admit I'm not an expert, but they seemed to be apropos. They are all ganked from http://senseis. and I do not play the game, so my application of them might be off

-----

Thinking proved more difficult than it seemed. In fact, Katara hadn't been in her room more than five minutes before she was fast asleep, fully clothed, on her bed.

She didn't wake until the light knock on her door, sitting up slowly and rubbing her eyes, taking a minute before going to answer it.

Azula stood there, smiling. She looked slightly different, wearing casual, deep red robes, her hair loose around her face. Younger, almost, and less – feral than normal.

"Hello. I thought I'd ask you to a moon-viewing."

Katara realized that it was already night with some shock. And a full moon. "I…."

"You don't have other plans, do you?"

She apparently didn't have enough sense not to shake her head, because the other girl smiled wider, reaching for her arm. "Good. Come on."

Katara stumbled a bit after her, dazed. "Azula, wait, I'm…"

"We'll miss the best light."

The princess was completely ignoring her, half-dragging her to a small pavilion out by one of the ponds.

Katara had to gasp, though, when they got inside. The room was small, lavishly appointed. What really was impressive, however, was the glass roof and the way the moonlight streamed in, making the whole room glow.

She stared up, entranced. Shivered a bit when Azula's arm slid around her waist, tugging her over to sit in the middle of the room, a depression in the floor that was padded, full of embroidered silk pillows.

"Where is everyone else..?"

Laughter in her ear, making her hair stand on end, her nerves tingle a little. "Probably watching from the palace. This is my own, private pavilion."

"Oh." The nervousness was back, making her stomach slowly twist in on itself. She kept looking up at the moon, more to avoid looking at Azula than anything else. But even that was no good, because it was the_ moon_, and she was starting to lend credence to those silly stories the water tribes told about the almost dangerous intensity of a tryst under the moon. It had always sounded like romantic piffle to her, but-

The other girl's hands were in her hair, tugging it out of the braid, making her look over, startled.

Azula smiled, pulling her fingers through it so that the hair fell into loose waves. "It doesn't suit you. You look better with your hair down."

"Azula, I..." She trailed off, her voice trembling just a bit as the princess pushed the hair to one side, leaning in to kiss her neck slowly

"Look at the moon. You don't want to miss this, do you?" Murmured softly as lips trailed up to her ear, breath on her skin making her shiver as Azula nuzzled her.

"No, but I—"

Fingers covered her lips lightly. "Shh. Relax." They were replaced by soft, insistent lips, and Katara couldn't help but relax, tilting her head into it naturally.

Again, she felt Azula's hands trail down her arms, to her waist, tugging at her belt, pulling it loose. She pulled away from the kiss when she felt fingers brushing over her ribs.

"Lie back." Mouth dropping to her neck as Azula pushed her clothes apart, down her arms and then leaned into her, firmly, pressing her down to the floor. Katara looked down at the other girl in confusion as Azula settled her head on Katara's shoulder, one hand stroking along her exposed stomach as she looked up at the moon. Thought she should push the princess away now, before it was too late, but her hands were caught somehow, tangled in her sleeves and she thought distantly that maybe it was already far too late, had _been _too late ever since she answered the door.

"It's lovely, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh…." Okay, so that probably wasn't the brightest thing she could have said, but the moon was starting to be a distant concern – she was more focused on trying not to shiver as Azula's hand slid up further, over her ribs and then up further still, cupping a breast lightly. She watched as the firebender turned into her, pressing lips to her shoulder, then moved, lips trailing along her collarbone delicately, tips of her hair tickling her skin.

-----

Azula hadn't been planning this, precisely. She hadn't had the whole evening plotted, if she was being excruciatingly honest with herself (which she wasn't), she just knew that girls usually found moon-viewings to be romantic – it was the only way Zuzu had ever had some modest success with girls, after all – and that the waterbender seemed like the type to be easily swayed by romance.

She was thinking every movement, every word through, up until the first kiss. What came after that, howeer… was a battle that she could feel herself losing. The girl was even more lovely in the moonlight, all deep eyes and shadow-dark hair spilling over her shoulders that Azula suddenly needed to see bared again.

Sudden stab of _wanting _that the princess couldn't control – not that she had ever really been denied anything she truly wanted – that made her pull open the other girl's clothes, push her down into the soft cushions.

The waterbender, as dark as she was, seemed to glow softly in the moonlight – even more than the silver thread in the light blue silk brocade she had been wearing. Azula pressed her lips to the hollow of her throat, greedily, tongue and teeth grazing over the perfect skin.

She moved lower and smiled as the other girl squirmed, making a _delicious_ sound in the back of her throat when Azula's lips brushed over her already-taut nipple. It made her shudder and her skin tingle a little. Her own breath suddenly felt as ragged as the girl's.

Azula hoped the waterbender was feeling the sudden rush of intense _need_ too; it would be downright humiliating if she weren't. But - looking up at the other girl's flushed face, taking in her closed eyes and lips parted to let out a panting whimper as Azula's hand slid down her stomach, - she _had_ to be. She smirked, letting her fingers trail lower, to trail over the soft skin of her thighs before coaxing her legs apart.

And suddenly there were fingers slipping through and gripping her hair - she realized vaguely that the girl must have worked one of her hands free - drawing her firmly up for a deep, long kiss that made her shudder, moaning into it because _this _was what had been missing, this breathless, hungry reciprocation.

Why hadn't she taken her own clothes off before? She frowned a bit, unwilling to break the kiss, working a hand between them and untying knots with unaccountably clumsy fingers. The movements felt alien to her, completely lacking her normal, studied grace - but that didn't matter anymore, especially not when she slid her bared leg between the waterbender's, eliciting a soft whimper.

The girl wasn't skilled. She seemed a little unsure, a hint awkward, but it didn't matter. In fact, it might even have made things better, heightened the sense of urgency. Azula had assumed that the girl was pure, but now it was confirmed.

She would be Azula's, completely.

-----

Katara slid into bed, licking lips that seemed somehow swollen, tender. Drew the blankets around her tightly, even though she still felt flushed and overheated, because she needed the pressure of them around her, somehow, to try to drown out the phantom feeling of light, strong hands sliding over her skin.

Things were getting out of control. _She_ was getting out of control.

But she couldn't help but remember the way Azula had moved against her, and how her fingers felt, making her tremble and lose all semblance of control. The way her breath faltered and she couldn't keep herself quiet, didn't even realize the sounds she was making at first because they didn't sound familiar at all. Her face grew hot and she groaned a bit, burying it in pillow that felt like ice, praying that no one had been nearby at the time.

She didn't know how she would face _anyone_ tomorrow, let alone the princess. It had been awkward enough to realize what had happened afterwards, after they had collapsed all tangled together, bodies comfortably pressed together, when Azula had finally moved; pulling away and distracting Katara from the moon (which really was breathtakingly lovely). Eyes locked as she pulled her own clothing back on then did the same for Katara before drawing her up to her feet, taking her back to her room and leaving her with another nearly-violent kiss before leaving without a word.

If Katara weren't so dazed, she probably would have been humiliated that the firebender had gotten so much from her, so easily. The worst part, though, was that part of her that wished Azula had stayed.


	6. Chapter 6 Arate

Holy hell it's been a long time.

Well. This chapter _was _finished about a month ago, but was unbetaed. Sorry about that guys. I meant to release it right around comicon, since I was hyped up (got to go 3) from it, but. Hey, at least I'm releasing it today in honor of Azula's super sexy sleepwear. Holy crap, that woman is hot.

One note about writing pace: it should pick up… after November. I know, I know. I'm sorry. But I'm just finishing my MA exams and need to study like crazeh.

Thanks to Colin and Catie for betaing and especially to Catie for being SO ANNOYING in her reminders to write. I did need them. :/

----

Azula was pleased. She knew she shouldn't be, she should be furious with herself, but… the previous night had been so satisfying, she couldn't fault herself for rushing with the plan. It just required a few little adjustments now.

Her fingers brushed over some hair ornaments that had been her mother's, before she had married Ozai. She wasn't one to be sentimental, but she was glad someone had thought to save them for her. Although Ursa was rather pathetic, even Azula had to admit she had good taste. She gathered her hair up, securing it with one encrusted with gold-veined lapis. It made her smile.

Blue was doing that, lately.

She leaned closer to the mirror, carefully smoothing on lipstick, eyeliner. Fussing, really. She was a princess. She needed to be _perfect_.

The sun was coming in at an angle through her window. It was still morning. Lately she normally would still be asleep now, but she was… restless. The good kind of restless, the kind she hadn't felt since before the coup, before her father's deposition.

Patience. She had to remind herself. She wondered if the girl was up yet. She hadn't slept much in the last couple of days. Had she? She pursed her lips, frowning. She couldn't go to her again quite yet… but if she was practicing, she supposed she could watch her, unseen, from one of the sitting rooms….

A knock on the door broke that train of thought and she frowned, tossing a brush down, gathering her red silk dressing gown around herself and going to answer it. Those _stupid _servants should know better than to disturb her before midday. She wrenched it open, gathering a breath to yell when she saw the deep blue robes.

Oh. Azula couldn't help but blink a little, staring. The other girl looked breathtakingly lovely. Hair falling around her shoulders in disarray, a flush over her cheeks. She had already practiced this morning, Azula realized.

"I think we need to talk."

She raised an eyebrow… all right, this wasn't in the plan. But she stepped aside for her, shutting the door after her. Remembered to let the breath out, because otherwise she'd turn a rather undignified color.

"This had better not be some sick manipulative game to you, because if it is…" She rounded on Azula, hands on her hips, eyes glacial. "I will hurt you in ways you cannot even imagine."

Both eyebrows were inching up, and she smirked, sitting. Not bothering to fix the robe that rode almost indecently high up her leg. "Do you always start social calls with threats? My goodness. No wonder you're still single."

That elicited an indignant scoff from the other girl. Azula watched her, curiously. There was still uncertainty in her, but it was a different type. And there was pride and anger and things she couldn't identify, and for a moment it tugged at her, the thought that the whole equation might be different now. She pushed it aside, for later. Smiled a bit, pleasantly. "Is there something I can do for you?"

The other girl frowned. She seemed annoyed, though Azula couldn't really say why. Probably something stupid anyway… girls were always getting angry over the silliest of things.

"I just... think you're misunderstanding something here." She finally managed to say. Arms crossed. Every inch the over-proper girl, except that Azula knew better.

She smiled more, slowly and stood.. walking deliberately over to her and reaching up to cup her cheek, thumb dragging over her lower lip slowly. "Am I?"

The waterbender looked for a moment like she was going to reply before she let out a soft, frustrated sound and stepped into Azula, kissing her hard, pushing her back a bit, and while Azula was pleased with the demonstration, the positions were all wrong so she pushed the other girl, to the side and back a step so that she practically fell onto the vanity. There was the sound of glass on glass, but nothing breaking, reassuring because Azula was not in the mood to pause this to help the peasant girl in caring for a wound in a rather delicate area. At least not one that she hadn't inflicted in a more deliberate fashion.

The girl stopped the kiss, pulling away… gasping in shock for a moment before turning a frown on her, pulling back when Azula tried to re-capture her lips.

"If this is going to happen, it's going to be on my terms," Katara said firmly.

Azula's fingers pulled at her bodice, relishing the subtle changes she could see in the other's eyes, the way it was starting to distract her. She smiled slowly... more of a smirk really. "And what are those?"

Her voice sounded just a bit breathless as Azula's mouth dropped to her neck. "You don't get to tell me what to do."

Azula smirked against her skin… nibbling slowly up her neck to her ear. Whispering into her ear. "Take this off and get into bed."

She shook her head, stubbornly. "No.. I have a meeting to go to." Pushing at Azula's shoulders a bit, but even that made the princess grin inwardly because there wasn't much force in it.

Azula laughed… sliding her hands down the girl's sides, ghosting over her thighs and then sliding fingers under her knees, pulling them up a bit as she nibbled at her earlobe. "What, on Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation trade? They don't _really _need you for that… do they?"

The girl seemed to waver just a bit and Azula pressed on, brushing her lips slowly over the corner of her mouth. "You know it's true. No one will notice if you're not there." Sliding her hands to the tie of the girl's robes as she straightened, slowly, looking down at her and tugged them, slowly undoing them. "So what's the harm in staying here with me?"

The girl frowned a little more. Clearly trying to calm her breathing, which made Azula smirk, though she tried to keep the slight condescension off her face. Slipping the cloth slowly down the girl's shoulders, though she folded her arms a bit to keep it from sliding down off her breasts. Azula followed the line of her throat down to her chest, slowly. Smiling against the skin before she pulled back to look in her eyes.

"Go lie down, Katara.." Enjoying the way the girl's name felt in her mouth, even though it was a silly foreign name, it suited her, and it wasn't unpleasant-sounding, in fact it was quite the opposite. And she took pride in the way the girl's eyes darkened a bit. Wondering if the other even realized it was the first time she had called her by name.

Azula drew away from her but took her hand, tugging her up. Katara just swayed into her… brushing a kiss across her mouth, then pulled away, deliberately, quickly fixing her clothing. "Later."

And Azula was left gaping as Katara slipped out of the room, deliberately. Eyes narrowing as the door shut quietly.

----

Azula nearly ran into the Avatar as she stepped out of her room, moments later. Wanting to grab the impertinent waterbender by her hair and _drag _her back. No one said no to her, especially not like _that_.

Of course that plan sort of stalled when her eyes fell on the Avatar, who was standing outside her room, grinning like an idiot. A trained _monkey_. She immediately pasted on a fake smile.

"Avatar Aang." A bow, not too deep… as shallow as she could without being rude. "Good morning."

"'morning. Mind if I walk you?"

She raised an eyebrow. The Avatar had never really sought her out for any reason. For him to do so now was really rather suspicious, and put her immediately on her guard. "Walk me where?"

He grinned a little more. "Wherever you're going, of course"

"Don't you have a meeting to go to?" Azula tried to keep the irritation out of her voice, but she didn't quite manage it. Kicking herself mentally for that.

He shrugged a little. "It's on Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation trade. They won't notice it if I'm gone"

Her eyes narrowed a little, though she kept the smile. Wondered if the brat had overheard their conversation, or if he was just uncannily perceptive. "Very well, then. I was going to take a walk in the gardens."

"Great!" He took her arm. It sort of made her skin crawl as he practically hauled her out to the garden.

They spent several moments in silence before he broke it. A cheerful voice, but there was a hint of steel under it. "So what's going on with you and Katara?"


	7. Chapter 7 Geta

Ahaha…haha…ha.

Okay, I'm SORRY. ._.// I know I've let this lapse terribly, and you all were totally right to call me on it. My only excuse is Real Life and it's horridness. Computer failure + School + Family + getting a career and all of that. But hey, I'm going to distract you with a shiny new chapter! It might not be a _long _chapter, but it's a chapter!

Unbetaed, largely. I figure you all will call me on anything _too _glaring!

(Also, side note? Looking for an rp partner. PM me if you're interested~)

--==--

Azula and Aang spent several moments in silence before he broke it. A cheerful voice, but there was a hint of steel under it. "So what's going on with you and Katara?"

Azula regarded him coolly. "Excuse me?"

"I might be young, but I'm not stupid, Azula." He stepped off of the walkway, tugging her out into the garden. "And I know you're up to something with Katara."

She smirked a bit. "So, what, you're looking out for your friend? Going to use your avatar powers on me if I step out of line?"

"No…" He looked at her, smiling a little "I'm _warning_ you. I'm actually concerned for your safety."

She raised an eyebrow, regally. "Warning me?"

"Yeah. You may not realize it, but she could _obliterate_ you. And she's sort of... emotional. And you're not exactly known for being...." He trailed off. But the damage was done, he had thoroughly insulted her character. Though the he was right… she wasn't known to be particularly kind to those she dated.

However, what bothered her most was that the all-powerful Avatar thought she wasn't strong enough to beat some uppity water tribe peasant. It irritated her. No, more than irritated her.

"You think she's more powerful than _me_?" She knew her voice was a bit too incredulous, but really, this was just ridiculous.

"I know she is." He shrugged. "I mean. You're awfully strong, but she's _scary_."

"_I'm_ scary!" She stopped. Blinked, because that wasn't exactly how she meant to phrase that, and the kid was actually giggling, which just made her even more furious. "I'm the best firebender in the nation." She folded her arms, glaring at him.

Oh… I know." He was still snickering, and she suppressed the urge to just fry him then and there and be done with it. Especially because he sounded so damn patronizing. "Just.. well…" He shrugged. "Be careful, okay? She won't take well to you breaking her heart or using her."

She snorted just a bit. "Why are you so quick to assume that I'm doing either?"

"Oh… mostly because I've heard that you're really awkward around people you actually like."

Her jaw dropped. "What?"

Aang shrugged a bit. Dropping down next to the pond, holding out a hand to pet one of the turtleduck babies "People say you sort of act… uh.. well. You know."

Azula sneered just a bit, wishing she'd have brought a loaf of bread to chuck at them. She could have bounced it off the Avatar's bald little head, while she was at it. "That's ridiculous! I'm perfectly capable of interacting with others."

"Yeah. When you're using them."

"That's not true!"

He shrugged, holding up his hands. "I'm just telling you what I've heard."

"From whom?" she gritted out, laying odds that it was Zuko. That spineless, cowardly little snipe.

He just waved a hand, shrugging some. "A few people, honestly. You'd be surprised what one can pick up from palace gossip."

She carefully composed her face, though she was positively seething. Slander was one thing she would not tolerate. She'd have to find out who had been speaking against her right away.

"Anyway." He flopped on his back, folding his arms behind his head as he looked up at her. "Just thought someone should let you know that she's plenty capable of defending herself, and she has a pretty… explosive temper. Plus she's …"

"She's what?" Azula gritted out, really wishing she could throttle the child.

Aang just grinned a bit, shrugging. "She knows her own worth."

She bowed just a bit, stiffly. "Thank you for the warning, I suppose, though I'm sure I have no need of it."

"You're welcome."

The fool seemed to be completely ignorant of her sarcasm, just grinning up at her. She snarled a bit and turned on her heel, heading back to her room, now in a doubly foul mood.

Once she was back in her room with the door firmly locked, Azula paced. Paused and turned to the mirror, glaring at herself. There was no way the girl could be stronger than her. No fathomable way.

...could she? She dropped down to the vanity chair, and leaned forward, to rest her chin in her hands. Sighing a little under her breath, studying her own, perfect face.

What did she really know about the water tribe girl? She racked her brain to try and think of anything real, but all she could come up with were her own observations. The girl's fragility and vulnerability, the surprisingly graceful way she moved, the pretty sounds she made…

But virtually nothing about _her_. A definite weakness in her plan, wasn't it?

Perhaps she should learn what she could. She tapped a finger to her lips, thinking. Who should she use?

The Avatar was out of the question, of course. Not only was he an annoying little brat, but he was also far too connected with her brother (a connection that she tried not to dwell on, as it was really rather sickening).

No, it would be best, perhaps, if she approached the brother again. He was dull enough to not really realize what she was doing, anyway.

--==--

Zuko stalked into his private gardens, where he knew Aang would be, sighing a bit under his breath. "Avatar Aang."

Aang squeaked a bit, spinning from where he had been playing with a monkey-rat, feeding it nuts. Breaking out into one of his wide I-know-I'm-in-trouble grins. "Ah… Zuko. Hi."

Zuko made his most serious face, folding his arms. "And where were you this afternoon?"

"Oh.. you know.. here and there." He popped a nut into his own mouth, then held the bag out to Zuko.

He ignored it. "Here and there, but _not_ at the meeting."

"They didn't need me there. And the meetings are so boring when they're about stupid stuff like trade." The boy got a bit of a pleading look on his face.

"Yes, I know. And how do you think I felt when there was no one to roll my eyes with?"

Aang smirked. Going to slip his arms around Zuko's waist. "I'll try not to let it happen again."

"See that you don't." And Zuko let the stern look slip, smiling down at him softly as he raised his hands to the other's shoulders. "Where were you though, really?"

"I was warning your crazy sister."

Zuko blinked. "You were warning her?"

"About Katara." Aang leaned up, kissing the corner of his mouth, a gesture which never failed to make Zuko blush (a fact that still irritated him, that Aang was so... forward and comfortable, and Zuko still felt so awkward).

He pulled back, letting the slight embarrassment die down, and smiling wryly. "Oh, but you're going to ruin the surprise."

"Surprise?"

"When she does something stupid and Katara beats the crap out of her." Zuko grinned. He and Katara had set aside their differences – they would perhaps never really see eye-to-eye, ever, but he did have a healthy dose of hard-won respect for her. He probably even had a scar to prove it.

Aang laughed, and honestly, that laugh was always so infectious. Zuko falling into it too, easily as he pulled out of the other's embrace and took his hand, tugging him inside.

"I think it'll still be a surprise. I don't think she believed me a bit. But hey, no one can say I didn't try."

"No one would care even if you hadn't. Azula needs to be taken down a notch."

Aang flung himself down on a pillow next to the low table, reaching for the food that was laid out for them both. "Then I guess she picked the right girlfriend."

Zuko settled down next to him, pouring himself some water. "Guess so. Can we stop talking about this now? Thinking about my sister's… dating habits is kind of creepy, honestly."

"Your wish is my command, Fire Lord Zuko." Aang took the cup from him, sipping and smirking over the edge, clearly mocking him.

"Would you cut that out?" He swatted him a bit in irritation, but the truth was… even at his most annoying, somehow Aang always managed to make him happier. "And that's my water."

Aang handed it back to him. "Are we both done for the day?"

Zuko shrugged a bit. "Technically we should be there for the dinner tonight… why?"

"I wanted to spend some time with you." Aang shrugged a little, resting his chin in his hand. "We've been busy a lot lately. Haven't even gotten much chance to spar."

"Well, if you're that eager for me to beat you… I suppose we could skip dinner." He smiled.

--==--

Azula leaned against the wall of the arms practice yard. She hardly ever came here; having very little interest in any type of fighting that wasn't related to bending. Her brother did, occasionally, and Mai and Ty-Lee… and now the girl's brother, apparently. She watched him, appraisingly. He honestly wasn't half-bad with that katana, and she wondered where he picked it up. It wasn't a water tribe art.

He was distracted though, obviously, looking her way every few seconds. It was enough for his sparring partner to land a few pretty hard blows on him, and she smirked as he held up his hand to signal the end of the match, going to fall down on a bench.

She strolled up to him, holding out a cloth for him to dry his face on. "I'm quite impressed, I must say." She kept her voice silken but not seductive, smiling in a charming sort of way that she generally reserved for grandfathers.

"Uh… thanks?" He took it, looking at it for a moment like it was going to bite him before mopping his forehead with it lightly and starting to pull off the practice armor. "What do you w.. I mean.. what can I do for you?"

She tried not to let her irritation at that show. He did at least correct his rudeness, this time. "Oh.. nothing important, really. I just wanted to talk to you for a while, about your sister. Would you like to have a late lunch with me? I've had the chef prepare some food.."

He shrugged a little, standing. "Guess so."

She smiled, keeping the edge off it. She _knew_ food would be his weakness, nodding to him a little. "I've had a table set up in the gardens. Follow me."


	8. Chapter 8 Aji

Some of you may have noticed that I've been geeking over other series and writing a lot lot lot for them lately. I promise that at least for now, Fuseki is safe though – even if I'm slower writing it. Real life is slowing just a bit and I'm feeling more in the swing of things.

As always, still looking for a good rp partner or two, as well as people to bounce ideas off of. If anyone is interested in Avatar or any other fandom that I write for… you can IM me on aim at katalyst019 or pm me here.

As always – thank you so much for all of you who read and especially to those of you who review! I'm glad you enjoy them as much as I do… and I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!

--==--

Sokka took a seat at the table, looking over the food first with equal measures of distrust and anticipation, and then Azula. She sat down gracefully, sighing, and motioned at him to eat.

He started on it immediately, without any sort of rational hesitation and she rolled her eyes a little, picking up a slice of fruit and daintily taking a bite from it. Averting her eyes from him. She should have known he'd have the table manners of an untrained pig-goat.

"So whydya wanna know 'bout Katara?" He managed to get past the food filling his mouth. She frowned, having to take a moment to translate the garbled speech.

"She and I have become… friends, I suppose."

"Friends? Riiiiiight." He snorted a bit, gesturing at her with a piece of food and she couldn't help sneering just the tiniest bit.

"How would you put it, then?" She kept her voice carefully neutral.

"You're stalking her."

"Oh I am not." She scoffed, frowning at him.

"You sure? You've been kind of stalky…."

"I'm sure."

"Okay, okay." He paused to stuff a particularly large piece of meat down his throat. "Well you're better off if that's the case. Really, you might want to stay as far away from her as you can."

"Why's that?" She raised an eyebrow, not sure if he was warning her or threatening her.

"Look. Katara's great and all, but she's insane. Freakish. She's got the worst temper I've ever seen. If you cross her, even accidentally, you're gonna be beyond sorry."

"Yes, yes, I know." She rolled her eyes. "Your Avatar already tried to convince me that she was stronger than me."

"Stronger?" He shrugged, stuffing even more food into his face. Azula couldn't help but wonder how he even fit all of it into his stomach. "Well yeah. I mean, she's learned as much as you have in your whole life in about a year. But that's kind of immaterial…"

"So what _is _material?" she ground out, finding this entire conversation really irritating all of a sudden. Just because Azula had had the benefit of teachers and the waterbender had to make things up as she went along didn't mean that Katara was stronger than her. In fact, it really meant just the opposite, in her mind.

She's even more proud than you, princess." He _drawled _the last part and Azula smiled, poisonously sweet, back, clutching the fruit in her hand hard enough that her nails dug into it, juice welling up over her fingertips.

"You think I'm _proud_?" She very carefully kept her voice from getting shrill.

"Proud, vain, arrogant, conceited, overconfident…. Want me to go on?" He smirked openly, taking a bite.

"Then couldn't the same be said for your sister?" she hissed, feeling her eyebrows draw together.

"Hn." He shrugged, looking uncomfortable and she held back a smirk, knowing she'd argued him into a corner. "Well… maybe."

"I see. Well, thank you for your time." She stood gracefully, deciding this was a complete _waste_ of time.

"Fair price for the food. Seeya later, princess." He grinned, like everyone else, completely lacking in manners. What _was _it with these people?

She bowed her head just a bit, stiffly, turning to go, trying not to fume.

----

Later that night, she studied Katara as the girl brushed her hair slowly, watching the thick, shimmering waterfall down her naked back.

They had picked up where the morning left off, and Katara had turned the tables on her, turning aggressive almost, so that it wasn't a seduction any longer, but a game enthusiastically played by both of them.

She was a surprise. Azula watched her with half-lidded eyes, a hand on her hip, stroking it lazily, though the girl paid it little mind. A constant surprise, and she was becoming more and more of a… pleasure. Annoying in a way, because she was so independent, but she was a challenge at least.

Katara leaned down and caught Azula's lips in a slow, teasing kiss, breaking her train of thought. "I think I need to get some air…"

"You're leaving?" Azula pouted a little, for effect, but she didn't mind sleeping alone, especially not when feeling so very languid and sated.

"Don't tell me you don't want your beauty sleep." Katara was smirking softly.

Azula rolled onto her back slowly, smiling. "Mn. True."

Another lingering kiss and Katara drew away, going to slip back into her clothes. Azula watching her with half-closed, proprietary eyes. She was beautiful, really.

But she didn't mind when Katara left and closed the door behind her.

---

Azula was still in a mood – the previous night's diversions nearly forgotten. As amusing as the girl was in bed, she wasn't exactly proving to be an asset to Azula's plans.

She prowled down one of the paths parallel to her brother's gardens, face icily composed, trying to decide what exactly to do. Could she plan and execute a coup now, with the military so firmly loyal to her idiot brother?

"I can do it without the full moon, now."

She recognized the voice immediately, and Azula stopped in her tracks, surprised – not only at the Katara's voice, but her words too. Somehow, she was stung that she had no idea what the girl was talking about. She stood, half-holding her breath and hoping that no one would notice her eavesdropping.

"How did you find out?"

"I… I got startled. A lizard-bird practically crawled down my collar while I was walking, last night."

There was a moment and just the slightest bit of amused laughter. "You're not the type to scare easily."

"I wasn't scared, I was startled. I was thinking." Katara's tone was a bit sharp and defensive. Azula could hear the other girl pacing, the gravel cracking under her feet. "What am I going to do?"

"Katara…" Aang's voice sounded deeper for a moment, more mature. As if it was stained with all those lifetimes of being. "You're overreacting."

"_Overreacting_?" Azula bit her lip, trying not to laugh at how menacing Katara sounded, suddenly. Apparently no one had been lying about the waterbender's temper.

"It's power. It's not good or bad, on its own."

"Something like _that _cannot be good. Ever. Out of everyone, I thought you'd be the one to understand!"

"I do." His voice was still quiet with none of the characteristic teasing notes that Azula was used to hearing. "You know yourself what I can do, too."

"But the point is I _used _it."

The Avatar sighed deeply. "I know."

A servant rounded the corner and Azula cursed internally, starting to walk as if she had never stopped, missing whatever the end of their conversation was.

The girl was clearly upset over something. She mused, finding her way to her room to sit at her vanity and tap her fingers on it silently. Something to do with power. She was frightened, too.

It was maddening, trying to figure out what this power was. Whatever it was, it had to be impressive, if she thought she could only access it during the full moon.

Impressive sources of power intrigued her.


	9. Chapter 9 Tsuke

A/N: sloooowly but surely. I know some of you fear this has been abandoned. Sometimes I scare myself too, with the space between updates. I hate to make you all wait!

Here you all go, for now. I'm going to try and get the next couple chapters out in a more timely fashion!

----

A storm had rolled in overnight. Zuko didn't typically like the rain… but he liked it better when he could use it as an excuse to stay in his room a bit longer.

He smiled down at the airbender next to him. Aang's skin was pale, no matter how much sun he got, and the blue of his tattoos didn't help the illusion of transparency.

Zuko traced his fingers along the tattoo down Aang's back and paused to pay attention to the outline of the scar his sister had left, causing the airbender to inhale softly. Finally he let his fingers slide down to the small of his back, where he rested his hand. Aang's muscles were uncharacteristically tense under his hand and Zuko was worried.

"What's bothering you?" He asked softly.

Aang let out a deep breath and twisted under Zuko, to face him, grey eyes uncharacteristically serious. "Just thinking about Katara and your sister."

"Again?" Zuko groaned a little as he shifted to drag fingers over Aang's bicep, still following his tattoos. "What now?"

"Katara's learned to bloodbend any night, now."

Zuko's eyes widened and his fingers stilled. "Oh."

Aang nodded slowly. "Azula doesn't know she has this power… but how could she not try to use it, if she finds out?"

"Even if she did…" Zuko frowns. "Katara wouldn't let her get far."

"I know." Aang reached up, tangling fingers in Zuko's hair, playing with it. "I'm just worried for Katara."

"Maybe I should do something about Azula." Zuko mused, closing his eyes and leaning into Aang's touch.

"And what were you thinking about doing?" The avatar lifted his mouth to Zuko's throat, and the motion seemed seeking, as if Aang wanted reassurance more than anything. Zuko sighed, siding his arm around him and rolled, pulling Aang on top of him.

"I could throw her in the dungeons." He suggested, hopefully.

Aang laughed softly, shaking his head. "Oh come on."

"Please?"

Aang leaned in to kiss him again, nipping lightly. "She won't listen to you anyway. We should just… keep an eye on her."

Zuko made a soft sound of assent, wrapping his arms around his lover, drawing him closer.

----

Winter in the fire nation never got truly cold. There was never any snow, and hardly any need for more than a light jacket, most days. However, sometimes truly torrential rains came in, ones that made it feel like the palace would float away; ornamental creeks and ponds overflowing their banks, testing the built-in drainage system to its limits.

Katara loved those storms. It was easy not to be seen once the downpour started, since most people kept inside, miserable.

She pretended it was training when she extended her powers to the raindrops, flash-freezing them and breaking the drops until snow piled around her feet and ice formed in the small waves that broke on the harbor.

But she knew it was really homesickness, a deep longing for stability. She missed feeling connected, part of a home and a family. She missed life before.

Sometimes she regretted coming with Aang. Sometimes she regretted learning to bend, learning to kill and control. It wasn't productive, though, to regret these things… so she did the next best thing. She trained, reinforced her control Maybe someday it would be enough.

"What on earth are you doing?" The voice, too familiar for the moment, caused Katara to hiss in surprise, whirling.

------

Azula watched Katara from under the protection of an umbrella for several minutes, eyes wide. Of all the things she expected to see in the Fire Nation, a miniature snow storm wasn't one of them.

Once she focused past the snow, though, her eyes were completely caught by the waterbender's movements, the way she spun and danced with whatever kata she was performing.

Every movement told a war story; was eloquent and beautiful and severe. No, not a story. Poetry – something Azula had never cared for, but in Katara it was beautiful.

She watched until she couldn't help but call out to her. Katara spun, hair damply curling about her and the air _cracked _around them, causing even Azula (who prided herself on having nerves of steel) to jump a bit.

Katara who didn't move, but she could see the tension in the straight lines of her shoulders and arms.

"What are _you_ doing?" Her voice was low and almost dangerous. Clearly Azula had interrupted a private moment and would not be let in. Unfortunately – or fortunately – Azula hated being locked out and was excellent at worming her way into one's defenses.

"I was looking for you." She let her voice drop to a soft, almost shy pitch, stepping forward, to where the waves lapped over her shoes, soaking the bottom of her pants. Ice crystals floated in the water, making her shiver just a little. "I.. missed you."

"I'm training." Katara didn't seem swayed, her arms folding stubbornly, the waves swirling around her waist. She didn't seem to mind the icy chill in the water, though that was fading quickly.

"I saw. I've been watching. You're beautiful." She didn't have to force the truth into those words… they were true. Azula could feel her cheeks heating up a little, which made her frown. She couldn't be blushing. She didn't blush! Not around people like the waterbender.

Katara arched an eyebrow, a bit of a smile softening her lips. "You think so?"

"I do." Her voice came out softer and less certain than she wanted it too, and she frowned just a little more, stubbornly hating herself for betraying weakness. She had to maintain control. This wouldn't work, if she didn't.

Katara just shook her head, damp hair catching as the waves rose around her, and then rose higher, bringing them suddenly together. The waterbenders' arms wound around her waist and her lips – cold and damp – pressed to Azula's, firmly and with all the control Azula felt that she herself didn't have. The water retreated suddenly, no longer caught by Katara's power, then crashed around them again, nearly knocking them down, Azula finding herself holding onto the waterbender – clinging in a most undignified manner.

Suddenly it was over and a taste like laughter and salt lingered on Azula's lips and the waves swirled up past their waists and pushing Azula away, out of the freezing breakers.

"Keep watching." The waterbender's eyes flashed bluer than the ocean. Azula, breathless, regained her footing in the sand, realizing that the water had been drawn out of her clothes without her even realizing. She hesitated for a long moment before sitting, watching the girl as she stood, poised, the water again spilling around her waist. She held her hands up and in a heartbeat, it just… stopped.

What followed next was even more beautiful than what had come before. Before, it seemed like the waterbender was fighting the ocean – a futile, anger-filled gesture. Now, she was dancing with it, gracefully, whirls and eddies becoming her dance partners, ice crystallizing on her like diamonds. If her motions before had told a story about war, this was more like a love song – if not one directed towards Azula.

Showing off. Azula realized what she was doing immediately, but the thought didn't fill her with disgust like it should have. The waterbender, clearly, had the right to show off, her ever movement and breath causing the entire ocean to pulse and heave.

Azula was painfully aware of her own pulse, the rushing in her ears that couldn't entirely be the water that swirled in front of her.

No, she wasn't lying at all, earlier. The waterbender was absolutely breathtaking, and she'd known it for some time. However, her morning practices did not show the pure scope of her power.

She had underestimated her. The knowledge was a thrill, made her shift impatiently. She wanted to run back into that water, take her on. Once, she had thought that the waterbender was no match for her, even if she had been in her element. Now, Azula could admit to herself that she was wrong.

Katara could be a partner. A match. It was possible… if their goals could be brought in line.

It took every bit of her patience to wait until Katara was finished, and then she didn't speak. She instead rose with every bit of grace she could muster and pulled the waterbender into a hard, claiming kiss.

She wanted her. Azula wanted _her_.

----

Later, after they had practically dragged each other back to the palace, Katara laid out over Azula, twined in their hair, nuzzling the hollow of her shoulder. They had taken each other, so many times Katara had been surprised that they were both still capable. Now, the sun was setting. She closed her eyes against that knowledge, telling herself firmly that she was being silly.

Azula's hands roamed her back, her shoulders, tugged at her hair. They were never still. The princess had changed somehow, become more possessive, rawer. There was also bits of awkwardness visible beneath her usual calm exterior.

Katara wondered, idly, if the princess was falling for her truly. It had never been a thought she'd entertained before. Perhaps she felt more than she should, but she had never suspected Azula of truly caring for her.

"Katara..?" Azula's voice was sleepy-sounding but also curious, probing.

"If you think I'm doing anything again anytime soon, you're crazier than I gave you credit for.." Katara said, laughing softly, propping her chin up on her wrist, her hand splayed over one of Azula's breasts.

Azula's gold eyes warmed in a smirk. "You clearly have a lot to learn before you're able to keep up with me again."

Katara grinned, knowing she looked a little foolish. But so did Azula. "You liar. You're just as exhausted as I am."

"Not at all. All this is a normal day for me." Azula waved her hand, obviously trying to look nonchalant. "I mean, why do you think I had to travel with Mai _and _Ty-lee?"

She snorted, indelicately. "I think Ty-Lee was too much for even you, Princess." She neatly sidestepped whatever response Azula might have made, turning her head and brushing lips over the princesses' other breast, letting her tongue draw a lazy circle around her nipple. "What's really on your mind?" She asked lowly, letting her breath travel over the freshly moistened skin, grinning at the way her nipple tightened a little and the soft hitch she could feel in Azula's breath.

"I overheard your conversation with the Avatar, yesterday." The comment was soft and lazy, but it made Katara's muscles tense immediately, her eyes jumping up to Azula's, mutely.

"You didn't seem frightened of the power you displayed at the beach today…" Azula's fingers reached to gently brush her hair back, combing through a little then tucking it behind her ear. "I can't imagine what would frighten you."

Katara drew back, pressing herself to sit up carefully, looking down at the firebender, whose eyes were intent but whose body was utterly relaxed. A thousand thoughts circled through her head in a moment, but none of them were coherent.

"What do you want, Azula?" She asked it quietly, feeling the sudden distance between herself and the girl that she was so contentedly lying against, moments before.

Azula's head canted to the side just a touch, eyes wide and without guile. "I want to help you, of course."

Katara slid away and off the bed, laughing a little, mirthlessly. "Azula, I have never known you to be the helpful type."


	10. Chapter 10 Magari

HOLY CRAP IT'S ANOTHER UPDATE?!

Yeah, I don't have much else to say except… enjoy! :) And props to Mitsu for being my beta for the last few chapters!

-----

Azula's head canted to the side just a touch, eyes wide and without guile. "I want to help you, of course."

Katara slid away and off the bed, laughing a little, mirthlessly. "Azula, I have never known you to be the helpful type." The innocent look, the air of helpfulness. It all seemed false to her and put her back up.

"Whatever do you mean?" Those prefect brows drew together in seeming confusion.

"I mean that I know you well enough to know you want power." She picked up a silk robe, drawing it around herself. "You want the throne."

"That's absurd." The princess began in a calculated tone. It was too cool, too truthful.

She let out a light, disdainful breath. "Is it? Don't make the mistake of thinking that I'm an idiot, Azula. I know manipulation when I see it."

"Katara…" Azula began placatingly, standing, going to her, fingers lightly caressing her arm.

It was a motion that was supposed to soothe her, but it didn't. "Don't patronize me." She snapped, angrily. "I'd much prefer your honesty to your soothing nonsense."

"It isn't nonsense. I was worried, when I heard your conversation with the Avatar. Why does this upset you so much, Katara? After what I saw today, what power could possibly frighten you so?"

"Do you really want to know?" Katara hated the sound of her voice – low and dangerous and quite frankly a bit ugly.

Azula's lips twisted in what seemed an exasperated, bemused gesture. "Yes, of course."

She was asking for it, and somehow Katara's temper had raised to the boiling point. She hardly realized that she had brought up her hand before she _bended, _shoving Azula back from her several feet, feeling her stomach twist as she did. The princess' golden eyes went wide and perhaps it was Katara's imagination but she seemed to pale. Katara dropped her hands in disgust, turning.

"Wait." Azula's voice was breathless, hungry. Katara didn't care, didn't want to hear it. She yanked the door open and stormed outside, slamming it shut.

It was still raining. She hesitated on the steps, just watching it, trying to calm herself and her furiously beating heart.

----

Azula dropped to the bed, bonelessly, just staring at the door.

Her thoughts and emotions swirled around her, mostly formless. The only two things she could identify were lust and… fear.

_Fear_. It was ridiculous, and naming the emotion made her thoughts pause.

She had never acknowledged that the waterbender could be more powerful than her. However, it was stunningly clear that Katara was more powerful, much more powerful. It triggered the same want, the same _need _that Azula had before but so much stronger.

It was wild and uncontrolled and she couldn't help but tremble with it, closing her eyes. This was absolutely impossible. It _couldn't _be happening. That girl, that _chit _couldn't have this much effect on her.

She had to get rid of her was the first, wild plan that she could think of. Get the girl to leave, to go home or _somewhere_, anywhere. Maybe Zuko could banish her. Well, no, he probably wouldn't banish her. Not without a reason… maybe he could send her on some sort of ridiculous diplomatic mission. It didn't matter, as long as the girl left. As long as she was gone, maybe Azula could regain the footing that seemed to have been taken from her.

Azula stood, pulling on her clothing, getting dressed. Perhaps normally she would take more care but this... this was an emergency, she _had to _speak to Zuko.

----

Sokka was slipping back into the palace from a hunting trip. Palace life was too placid, too boring. Sure he had all the meat he could want, but sometimes a man just had to triumph over the elements and the danger and get that meat himself.

He hadn't found anything. The rain had started in the middle of his tracking and made it impossible to find the trail of any appropriate game. It made him grumble to himself about the stupid fire nation and its stupid rain – it wasn't even cooling, just hot and muggy and absolutely inconvenient.

His quiet rant was interrupted when he saw the figure across the courtyard. Wearing a heavy silk robe that looked like it had been dipped in blood, white at the shoulders, darkening to deep crimson by the knee, Katara stood on the steps, watching the rain. She looked awful, jaw tense and tight, eyes dark, hair in wild ripples around her shoulders.

Normally, Sokka would have simply given her a wide berth. But he knew his sister, and knew that she wasn't simply furious… she was upset.

Cautiously he approached her, stepping in out of the rain. "Katara?"

Her head turned, and she took a breath. "Sokka?"

Suddenly she threw herself into his arms, shoulders shaking a little. He frowned deeply, and hugged her back, tightly.

----

The throne room was always, _always_ unreasonably hot. Zuko hated it usually, but it did have some of the best light for reading at night and he _had _to complete work on a new trade treaty for the next morning.

He'd had a few plush pillows and a table spread on the ground in the middle of the room, off the dais. The servants had actually looked uncomfortable bringing them and the tray of light food in – as if he was doing some sort of horribly profane thing, using the room as a study.

He took a sip of the cool water, reading the same passage a fourth time, carefully re-wording a sentence of it for greater clarity.

"Zuzu." Azula's voice carried around the hall, angry and authoritative and somehow vulnerable. Zuko raised an eyebrow, slowly, looking up from the scrolls he had spread around himself.

"Azula."

"You look ridiculous." She sniffed, arms crossed, hair unbound and wild around her. She looked pale though, a little drawn.

"Thankfully you're my only audience, and since you already think I _am _ridiculous…" He said it dryly. Once, not long at all ago, he would have taken offense to her. Perhaps he should credit Aang for his newfound sense of humor. Or perhaps it had always been there, just stifled by his situation.

"True." She said, peevishly, then snapped her mouth shut, giving him a hard look, as if she wanted to say something.

"Would you like to sit?"

She snorted… but strode in, half-falling onto one of the cushions. "I can't believe you'd allow someone so dangerous so close to you." Her voice was scathing.

"If you killed me, Aang would make sure you'd regret it." Zuko put his calligraphy brush down.

"Not me you dolt." She snapped it out, glaring.

"Not you." He repeated it slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"You idiot." She seethed. "The waterbender."

"Ah." Zuko poured her a cup of water, offering it to her. "Katara."

"Is there some _other _waterbender I'm unaware of?"

"Why do you think she's dangerous?"

"_Don't you know what she can do_?" Her voice practically cracked on that, and her eyes had a hit of positive madness.

Zuko sipped his own water, calmly. "Bloodbend? Yes, of course."

Azula just stared at him, mouth slightly open, and he wished that he could have the court painter draw a portrait of _that_. "You… you…"

"Fool?" He supplied, helpfully.

"_Yes_!"

"Azula, I've known about her power for ages. She isn't about to bloodbend indiscriminately." He smiled wryly.

"And yet that's exactly what she's afraid of."

"No, she isn't."

"What?" She looked thrown by that, brow wrinkling. "But she said…"

"Azula." He tilted his head. "You two have been… for lack of a better word… courting, haven't you?"

He never thought that he'd see the day when his sister blushed. She was doing it now, and it seemed out of equal parts embarrassment and anger. "Courting is a bit liberal of a term, brother…"

"It's close enough." He shrugged. "It seems that what you're most worried about isn't her bloodbending."

"That's absurd. What else would I be worried about?"

Zuko drummed his fingers along the edge of the table, thoughtfully. "Katara is… infuriating and sometimes annoyingly mothering. She's got a terrible temper and she's competitive… not really very tactful. Oh, and she's really quite violent sometimes."

"What's your point?"

"She's also stunning. Powerful and just as smart as you. Really, I didn't think I'd ever see anyone who could actually match you."

"Zuzu…" She growled a touch, warningly.

He just smiled. "If you decide to propose to her, you have my blessing. I have Grandmother's betrothal ring. The waterbenders usually give necklaces though." He paused, thoughtfully. "I suppose the royal jeweler could modify it."

"Don't be absurd! I want her gone, not to _marry _her. Women don't marry each other." She glowered at him, arms folded, back straight. "And I wouldn't want your blessing, anyhow."

"Perhaps you're right." He said quietly, simply sipping his water. "At any rate, I'm not sending her on a fool's mission out of the country or banishing her or anything else, just to soothe your wounded pride. _That _would be absurd. She's far too valuable."

Azula shot him a poisonous glare, but for once she seemed to find no actual fault with her brother's logic. "Fine then." She said after a long moment.

"Fine?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have a hearing problem?" She stood, sniffing a little. "I'll let you get back to playing clerk."

Zuko chuckled softly, nodding. "I hope things work out for you both." He was surprised to find that he actually meant it.

Azula simply sniffed and spun to flounce out, clearly trying to keep up her front.

----

Azula raged quietly as she left the throne room, headed back to her chambers. Her pride, injured? Preposterous. Truly ridiculous, and of course Zuko had been the one to spout such nonsense.

But of course he wouldn't see what she saw. Katara helped _put _him on the throne. Why would he consider her a threat? Why would _any _of them see her as a threat? None of them would push her to leave the kingdom, so clearly Azula would have to do so herself.

She sat down, heavily, staring at the wreck of the bed. Color rose in her cheeks as she remembered what had happened there earlier. She couldn't _believe _herself, having let things get so out of hand.

Azula was supposed to be in control of this. Not that crazy, over-powered waterbending freak of a girl.

Clearly seducing her had been a wild miscalculation on Azula's part. But now, the question remained as to what she wanted to _do_ about it.


	11. Chapter 11 Katteyomi

A/N: I'm trying desperately to make up for the months and months that I've gone without updating. So… here!

----

Sokka helped Katara back to her room, murmuring soothing things to her, frowning deeply as he got her to sit and poured her some chilled tea. She wasn't exactly crying, but she was clearly upset.

He sat next to her, giving her a serious look. "All right, what did she do?"

"What?" Katara sniffled a little.

"The crazy princess." Sokka folded his arms. "Am I going to have to hurt her?"

She half-laughed, shaking her head. "No. It's just… it's complicated."

"So? I got all night." He poured himself a cup too, sitting back down. "Talk to me."

Katara let out a deep breath, tucking her hair back just a bit. "I… I miss home. I miss Gran-gran and the cold and not feeling so…"

Sokka's eyes widened in just a touch of panic, seeing tears well up in Katara's eyes. Oh no. She wasn't allowed to cry! He _hated_ when she did that! He quickly abandoned his tea, moving closer to her and pulling her into a firm hug. "Hey."

"Hm?" She sniffled, wiping at her cheeks, more embarrassed-seeming than anything.

"I'm here, you know."

"Well that much is obvious…" Katara's voice was shaky and Sokka frowned, pressing a light kiss to her forehead.

"No, I really mean it." He waved his other hand expansively. "I know things are complicated… I'm training and seeing Suki a lot and… everything. But none of that is more important than my sister." He nodded firmly, glad that his voice didn't waver on the mention of Suki.

She let out a deep breath, relaxing slowly against him. "I know. It's not like I haven't been distracted too." And her cheeks were red at that, quite obviously blushing.

"Yeah." He shook his head, still a bit thrown by that. He really did think Katara had more sense. "You should just kick her ass. I could help!" He tried to keep the hope out of his voice.

"No." She said it sharply. "That's the problem. She found out… about the bloodbending."

He blinked slowly. "How? What happened?"

"I… used it against her." Her voice dropped to a near whisper and he could hear the anger and the shame in it. His lips twisted, thoughtfully.

It took him a long moment of blinking and staring. "Waaait. It's not the full moon. It's nowhere near the full moon."

She shuddered a little, pulling on the ends of her hair lightly, a habit she had in childhood, when she was trying not to be upset or angry. "I know."

"Then you've been able to bloodbend… just regularly?" He wasn't sure if he should be impressed or not, honestly.

"Yeah. I guess… I guess I'm just getting more powerful." She twisted her hair a little more firmly. "Who knows, maybe someday I won't even need the moon."

"Oh." He frowned, looking down at her. "Well. Even so, I'm sure you'll be fine… you know how to control yourself."

"Except that I _don't_." Her voice broke softly, a sound not unlike a sob. "I used it against her, and I certainly didn't need to."

"What exactly did you do?"

"I… just pushed her back." She grimaced. "And then I left. She told me to wait, but I _couldn't_. I can't believe I did that!"

Sokka sighed deeply and just hugged her tightly. "Hey. There's nothing to blame yourself for."

"Liar."

"I'm not." He shook his head, petting her hair a little. "You didn't hurt her, and I'm sure you were really upset."

"But I…" She trailed off, looking confused.

"Hush. Go ahead and have a good cry, Katara. It'll look better, after that."

-----

Sokka had been right. She _did _feel better now, after a night of crying and getting angry and a _bit_ of alcohol mixed into their tea. Not too much, of course – they had another meeting to attend and this time she was required to be in attendance.

She had gone early to meet with Zuko and sat in a study with him before, having some breakfast as she looked over the trade agreement that Zuko had been working on, ignoring the faint headache between her eyes.

"It looks good, actually." She looked up at Zuko, who was making tea himself, instead of asking the servants to do it.

"Oh good." He smiles. "Let's just hope the Earth Kingdom delegation feels the same way." He handed her a cup and then picked up a pastry, breaking a piece off.

"Well, it has all their demands. I can't think of anything they'd have a problem with." She rolled her eyes. "Of course that doesn't mean we won't be stuck in the room arguing about the agreement for the next several hours anyway. They just like being contrary, I think."

"True enough." Zuko laughed wryly. "By the way, Azula wants me to exile you." He drawled with a smile.

Katara blinked, rolling up the parchment in her hands slowly, thoughtfully. "Exile?"

"Well, she didn't say it in so many words, but she really wants you out of the country."

She tried not to flinch, tying up the scroll, not meeting his eyes. "Because she thinks I'm dangerous?"

Zuko shrugged, swallowing a bite of pastry. "Hm. Well, I'm sure that's what _she _would say. I'd guess that she's actually jealous and just won't admit it."

Katara blinked. The thought that Azula would be jealous of her hadn't actually occurred – though in retrospect, it should have. After a moment, she half-laughed. "And what did you tell her?"

"That she was nuts, of course." The hand on her shoulder startled her, making her look up. "We all trust you, even when you don't trust yourself."

"Zuko…" She sighed, deeply. "I'm sorry about all of this."

"There's nothing to be sorry for." He shook his head. "So… to change the subject to something a little lighter, do you remember _The Boy in the Iceberg_?"

"Wh..what?" Sometimes Zuko's mid-conversation changes gave her whiplash – it was a habit he must have learned from Aang.

"The Ember Island Players. They've… updated their dramatization of the story of the Avatar. Aang thought it would be interesting to see it again."

"Aang has… an interesting idea of _interesting_, doesn't he?" Katara snorted, dryly. They were _terrible_. Why she would want to go to a performance by them again rather escaped her.

Zuko grinned. "That he does. But at least we probably won't die in this version of it?"

"I guess…" Katara said, uncertainly.

Zuko shrugged. "I've requested they come perform for us tomorrow evening. It'll be fun. You can get dressed up…" He actually almost smirked. "And I'm sure Azula will be there."

"I'm not sure that's helping." Seeing Azula was the _last _thing she wanted to do at the moment, honestly.

He grinned. "Trust me. You going and looking pretty will drive her insane. You won't even have to speak to her. Besides, you really should see the hall – it's only opened for special performances and it's really quite impressive."

Katara sighed deeply. "Fine, I suppose."

-----

It had been two days and Katara had not changed her routine one whit. That is, of course, except for the fact that she had not spoken to, looked at, or acknowledged Azula in the slightest. It was like she didn't exist.

It was absolutely maddening.

How the girl had gotten it into her head that _she _was allowed to ignore _Azula_ was beyond her. Azula was royalty! She wouldn't stand for being ignored by some silly little waterbender, no matter how over-powered she might be.

When Zuko announced that there would be a command performance of the Ember Island Players (a group that she couldn't stand, despite their mother's sentimental attachment to them), Azula had seized on it as an opportunity to show Katara just how impossible she would be to ignore. She had donned her most decadent robes – ruby red, bright and daringly cut, flames embroidered along the edges in gold thread. She had left her hair down, fine gold chains weaving through it, tiny diamonds and rubies catching the light. She looked, dare she say, positively regal.

Still, Azula sat rigidly in her seat in the royal theatre hall, acutely self-conscious. It didn't matter how good she knew she looked, how not a single hair was out of place – She couldn't calm herself down.

Perhaps that was because Katara had just entered, slim and willowy and more graceful than Azula remembered. She wore her hair up, wreathed with deep blue topaz in a golden ring, looking more like droplets of water than stones and matching her eyes perfectly. Her robes were deep brick red and sky blue, fine, thin silk that clung to her dark skin, highlighting every firm curve. Even her makeup was perfect, enough to call attention to her features without seeming anything but natural.

Damnit, Azula had done her job _too _well, she realized sourly as she watched the girl. She looked more like a princess herself than a peasant. From her clothes to the way she carried herself, there was not an inch of her that spoke of her humble birth.

She stubbornly ignored the way her conversation with Zuko hovered in the back of her mind, narrowing her eyes as she watched the waterbender.

Katara paused to speak with some courtiers that Azula had not cared enough to remember their names or even the slightest detail about. She snorted under her breath until she saw Katara sliding her arms around one of the other women in a brief but firm hug, laughing and Azula positively saw red.

The chit was making a fool out of her – and in public, no less! This could not be happening. She wouldn't _allow _it to happen.

----

Zuko had been right, Katara decided as she walked into the hall, already full of throngs of people. The were all familiar, of course – courtiers from the parties she and Azula had been to, the teas that Iroh occasionally hosted.

She smiled softly as she took her seat in the hall. In the front row, practically on the stage there were two rows of plush chairs, obviously reserved for the royal family. She had actually been taken somewhat aback when she was directed there.

Azula, of course, was sitting not far away, almost facing her. Katara didn't let herself make eye contact.. instead she lifted her chin to look up.

The performance hall was quite simply amazing. A huge ancient cave formed by lava, the walls arched far overhead, glossy and black and smooth, reflecting the reds and blues and purples of the ceremonial fires.

It seemed like it should have been dark, but it sparkled. It was almost blinding, the reflection off the walls that turned them almost white, the reflection from the jewels the entire court wore as they found their seats.

She let herself smile, then grin as Sokka dropped into the seat next to her, and Aang and Zuko on her other side. This was so familiar and so different at the same time.

The Ember Island Players _had_ changed their script since the end of the war, Katara noted with amusement. Of course they would have had to, wouldn't they? She laughed at something the actor Sokka said, relaxing. It seemed that he had refined his script even further.

Of course she was conscious of Azula's eyes on her through the whole performance, the way they greedily took her in. It was uncomfortable for a moment, but then it made her smile, just a touch dangerously.

It wasn't until she was leaving that Azula made her move, just as she stepped out into the night air.

"We need to talk." Azula said it darkly, standing in front of her, looking deceptively relaxed.

Katara hesitated a touch, but then mentally cursed herself, keeping her eyes off Azula's as she stepped to the side, intending on passing her by without a word.

Fingers slid around her bicep, cool against her skin, holding her firmly. Katara turned her chin, keeping it stubbornly up, looking at Azula with as much disinterest as she could muster.

"Do let go of me." To be honest, she was shocked that Azula was forcing this sort of interaction, especially at night.

"Not until we have a discussion." Azula hissed it under her breath, fingers tightening.

Katara let herself smirk slowly. "Do you feel safe enough for that?"

"I'll take my chances."


	12. Chapter 12 Boshi

A/N – Hey all! This is the latest, and we're clearly winding down to the end… I can't believe it! I want to thank all of you – the readers, the reviewers. Those of you who are new, and those of you who have (unbelievably) stuck around since the beginning and put up with my absolutely dumb posting schedule.

Two notes. Number one – obviously this was begun before Avatar ended, and I didn't have the context of the final season. So you'll notice some things that are against canon (namely that Azula isn't crazy and that she's still more-or-less friends with Mai and Ty-lee) Sorry! If I ever do a complete revise (which I would like to do) I'll fix that in a believable way (as well as making the whole fic more cohesive).

Number two – apparently kills my section breaks. This must make things much more difficult to read, and I never realized. I'll try and go back and fix these things as I have time.

Azula had no plan. It was so unlike her to be impulsive – she had not planned on speaking with Katara, but it was impossible to resist the temptation.

So she led the girl to the pavilion that she had taken her before, for moonwatching. She sat, regally, back very straight. Her hair was starting to come out of the updo, strands slipping down in soft waves around her face. Her eyes were shadowed, so far from the torches, but her lips were deep red and full.

She didn't even realize that she was staring until Katara's mouth tightened sourly and she spoke. "What do you want, Azula?"

The question startled her. How had she lost track of the situation? She frowned deeply in irritation, then forced herself to smooth her features out and put a light smile on. "To talk."

"You've made that perfectly clear." Katara raised an eyebrow slowly, and Azula couldn't help but notice how perfect her skin was in the moonlight. She shook herself a little, taking a breath. "But you're not talking."

"I…" She caught her breath and realized her cheeks were heating up in embarassment. "This is ridiculous."

"I agree." Katara said, voice firm, arms crossed. She looked every inch in control and Azula _hated _that. She wanted to rip that control from Katara, make her feel as off-balance as Azula herself felt. "You wanted Zuko to banish me."

"I never said _that_." She protested quickly, eyes narrowing. Oh, Zuzu was in trouble for letting that slip. She was going to make his life absolutely miserable. Plans started forming in her mind, swirling… maybe she could convince the Avatar that Zuko still had a crush on Mai. Or she could ruin trade agreements. Have a little discussion with the cooks.

"You implied it though, didn't you?" Katara's voice cut through her planning.

Azula snorted a bit, not caring how indelicate the sound was. "Should I want you around?"

"You don't?" And Katara's voice was _entirely _too innocent, making Azula grind her teeth.

"Would you keep the innuendo to a minimum?"

For _some _reason that made Katara start laugh, a full rich sound that just clenched Azula's stomach in ice and boiled her blood. "Oh, Princess… no innuendo meant."

"Then what _did _you mean?"

The waterbender's smile sharpened, deadly. Azula couldn't remember when she had learned that. Had she always known it? "Don't you want me to help you overthrow Zuko…? Place you on the throne?" Katara was standing, leaning over her, one hand bracing on the back of the seat. "You know, I could. Between the two of us, even Aang wouldn't be that much of a problem."

Azula caught her breath, looking up into the endlessly blue eyes that were thrown into sudden relief by sheer proximity, feeling desire nailing her to the bench. "I… I.." Oh no. No, she couldn't be stammering. She took a deep breath, collecting herself firmly. "I know." She swallowed, mouth feeling… thick, coated in honey. "We could be _great_, you realize."

"We could." Fingers reached up, caressing her cheek. "We could be amazing. But couldn't we also be great without the inconvenience of running a country?" Katara murmured softly, her lips coming to brush over Azula's brow, making the princess shudder a little.

"But that's always been what I was _destined _to do.." Azula was startled to hear how.. confused her voice was. Startled even more to _feel_ that confusion, honest and overpowering as it was. What was she, if not the future Fire Lord? She had no idea.

Soft lips pressed against hers slowly, nipping. "Maybe you were destined for something more."

Azula moaned a little, pressing into it, gasping as the warm sweetness of Katara's mouth was suddenly gone.

"You have a quandary, princess."

"What is that?"

"You know what it is." Katara smiled, an expression that should be cloyingly sweet but served to simply melt Azula a little more and add to her confusion. "And you know where to find me when you make your decisions."

Azula let out a soft, shaky breath… seeing the smile on Katara's face, the way it held tight victory. She _hated _it, and hated the way that she couldn't form a coherent reply to save her life.

Even after she couldn't see Katara any more, she stayed in the pavilion, shifting in the seat, turning to look outside. It was dark, so she even allowed herself to fold her arms and rest her chin on them, sighing deeply.

"What are you doing out here?" A voice broke into Azula's thoughts, making her jerk and frown up at the girl who was literally hanging _upside down_ in front of her.

"Ty-lee." She grit out, dryly.

"Hi~" And she flipped, releasing her legs from the beam that held her up, landing in front of Azula lightly. "I was just practicing my balancing and…"

Azula's face heated up. "How long have you been here?" She asked sharply. Humiliation was terrible enough, without an _audience_.

"Only a few moments… you were really _out _of it, weren't you?" She waved her hand in front of Azula's face. "Are you sure you're okay? Should I call someone..?"

Azula growled and batted the hand away. "Quit that."

"But something clearly wrong.." Ty-lee pouted, dropping her hand. "Your aura's all… spiky again."

"What are you talking about?" Azula snapped, irritated, rolling her eyes.

"Your aura! I mean, before it was all muddy red and spiky.. and for a while there it was clearing up. Almost… uh.. rose? Flush? No.." She nibbled on a fingertip, thoughtfully.

"It doesn't _matter_, Ty-lee. Get to the point."

The slight girl sighed, sitting and playing with the end of her own ponytail. "My _point _is, that you were doing so well! What changed?"

"Nothing. Don't be ridiculous. I am the same as I ever was."

"Azula…" Ty-lee tilted her head, eyes wide, mouth opening in a soft little 'o.'

"What?" Azula snarled, drumming fingernails, slowly, wishing they were still long enough to scratch satisfactorily with.

A grin broke out over Ty-lee's face, and she waved her finger. "Nothing~" She declared, in that terribly annoying sing-song.

"_What_?" She said again, folding her arms. "Tell me or so help me, I'll have you hung from the battlements for the wild hawks and lizard birds!"

"You're so _mean_, Azula.." She pouted, tickling her own palm with the edge of her braid.

Azula smirked. "Yes, so you should tell me quickly, before I lose my temper."

"Zuko wouldn't let you hurt me." Ty-lee stuck her tongue out. "And neither would Katara."

"Katara?" Azula's voice did her the indignity of breaking on that, disbelievingly. "She is not in any position to tell me what to do."

"Of course she is." Ty-lee gave her a smile that would have rivaled the innocence of a child. "You love her."

Azula's mouth fell open for a moment before she closed it, lips pursing, glaring at the acrobat. "I do not." And her voice didn't sound sulky at all. It _didn't_.

"Well maybe you don't." She said, just proving that she was an idiot who didn't think at all about the words that came out of her mouth.

"Exactly!" Azula said, triumphantly, then gasped as Ty-lee started talking over her, of all things.

"You might not love her, but you _like _her. And she likes you. It's cute!" She bounced to her feet, lightly. "Ooh, I know what to do! We should have a party! A big party for the two of you as the Fire Nations's _cutest_, most wonderful celebrity couple!"

Azula felt panic, utter panic rising in her chest. "That's quite unnecessary, Ty-lee."

"But it'll be _beautiful_! We can get those little lamps and hang them in the trees and lots of red and blue silk… and a dance floor of course. Now that the Avatar has shown us some of the traditional dances, it's really popular and I've gotten pretty good at most of them—"

"Ty-lee, _quit it._" She interrupted her, hand grabbing her arm, shaking just a bit. "No parties. Nothing. She and I aren't even seeing each other, right now."

Ty-lee squeaked and held still, but her eyes twinkled. "Hm… I don't think that will last. You still like her."

"Spare me." Azula let her go. "And leave me alone. I don't want to be talking to anyone."

"Okay." She grinned, much too mischievously. "I've got a lot of planning to do, after all!"

Azula snarled out a curse, lashing out with a fist… far too late, Ty-lee having swung away with a light giggle that was really _far _too crazy-sounding.

Damn her. Azula dropped back down onto the bench, seething, really feeling like setting the whole pavilion on fire.

She didn't have feelings for Katara. She _didn't_. And even if she did, those feelings couldn't hold a candle to her ambitions, to her destiny. She would be the greatest Fire Lord the world had ever seen!

The thought didn't fill her with the fire it had, before. It felt more like ice, pooling in her stomach.

Eventually, Azula stood, straight-backed, her jaw tight. She was not sulking. She would not be _accused _of sulking. She would go to her room and brush out her hair and have some chilled lychee, and she _would not _think about Katara.

She wouldn't.

One sleepless night later, Azula was counting the shadows on the ceiling again… though they had faded and nearly disappeared. She remembered where each one _should _be, had been staring at them enough.

_Fine_, she admitted, with a taste viler than durian welling up in the back of her throat. It _was _unlikely that she'd unseat her brother. The game was stacked against her. There was no way to win this particular round. Not right now.

She rose, pacing the apartment, yawning and stretching – conscious of the effect she would have on a potential viewer, even though none were in the room with her. Katara wasn't curled up in her bed, hair loose and tangled, lips swollen. _She wasn't where she should be_ was the thought that sprang to her mind unbidden.

Damnit. She banished the thought ruthlessly and picked up a hairpin, twirling it between her fingers, going to draw the light curtain back from the window. It was getting hot, and she needed some air.

She hissed when she saw the courtyard. Katara was there practicing, quickly moving through complex forms, water swirling around her. Previously, she would have seen those forms as simplistic, the motions of Katara's limbs weak. But she knew better now.

She realized that she was digging the pin into the window when it bent in her hand. She looked down at it, cursing under her breath, starting to straighten it out carefully.

When she looked up a moment later, Katara was gone, leaving the plants in the courtyard a glittering mess that would evaporate quickly in the heat of the day.

Had she realized she was being watched?

Azula wasn't sure if she could deal with the humiliation of that or the humiliation that she was sure would come, soon. She closed her eyes tightly.


End file.
